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Big Chains Launch “Hulu For Hotels”

Several major hotel chains have launched what might be described as “Hulu for hotels,” a new travel search site called Roomkey. According to Tnooz, the consortium includes Choice Hotels, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental, Marriott and Wyndham Hotels. Starwood, operator of Sheraton and W hotels, is not among them.

Hotels have been struggling for years to get consumers to come directly to them rather than various OTAs, middlemen and aggregators to whom they pay affiliate booking and lead fees. This is not the first such hotels joint venture effort. There have been several initiatives over the past decade that have met with limited or mixed success.

The functionality and design of the Roomkey site are very good. It’s not clear Roomkey is comprehensive enough to be truly competitive, however. For example, there are no consumer reviews and users don’t see all available hotels in a market.

According to Hitwise, Google Maps is the internet’s top travel site. Following the acquisition of travel booking platform ITA last year, Google has been incrementally rolling out more travel search features and capabilities.

About The Author

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.